After the embarrassing political loss for a county office, we knew Bloomberg wouldn’t sit back and let that slide. Now he’s sending the Moms who are continuing to use their brand, despite being rolled into Everytown Against Illegal Mayors Who Hate Guns (or whatever their name is), after grocery stores thanks to images offered up by open carry activists with rifles.
So far, it seems like Kroger is willing to stand by their policy of just letting state and local laws prevail. The company spokesman told HuffPo, “We know that our customers are passionate on both sides of this issue and we trust them to be responsible in our stores.”
And of course they don’t mention the Kroger employee who used his carry piece to end a hostage situation in Indiana.
And this shows why the Antis push for this:
“Given the current political climate, in which even overwhelmingly popular proposals like expanded background checks can’t gain any legislative traction, what the gun control activists have accomplished via low-budget Twitter and Facebook campaigns is impressive.”
It’s a way to make them seem like they’re both winning, and the fiscal underdog.
(Don’t let the seem mean to discount these victories. The article alone is proof of that, and they are trying to build a domino effect. AND they’re working to lower the bar on what will cause a company to fold.
Not how each time this happens the open carry incidents are fewer and fewer? Heck one restaurant was hit up by ’em using pictures that were over a year old.)
What I’m curious is if these are new OCT pics or if the antis are still farming the old archives.
Kroger has about 2600 grocery stores across the entire country. One “shooting on their property” a month — and who knows how broadly that’s defined, given the way they defined “school shootings” — doesn’t seem extraordinary, or even that odd.
In contrast, their poster-child city for gun control, Chicago, had more shootings IN ONE WEEKEND.
They should head down to Florida and lobby Publix. Ought be end up good for them. I told my wife if she ever felt threatened while on the road in Florida, to find the nearest big Publix store and run inside. On a good Saturday in Publix, I can see a dozen printed guns (Manatee County). YMMV in West Palm Beach, but where we hang it’s practically a gun shop.
The other side just doesn’t get that once we integrate self-defense rights into the lifestyle of ourselves and our family, we just don’t see any additional restrictions on that as reasonable. They obviously sense this, because they openly talk about trying to modify our “culture”, or at least make it taboo. Maybe ten years ago, but not anymore.
Last weekend I had yet another half-dozen people at the range who asked me for the intro. People who once thought carrying was odd. Now they are shopping Glocks.
You cannot unring that bell.
I have open carried a pistol in many Kroger owned stores without any issues, see list below. Keep in mind that many of the places that Kroger has stores in rural America, they capture much higher margins than in the more populated areas where they have more competition. In a 2 store town, you don’t want to send your customers directly to the other store across the street because you ban open carry.
Grocery Stores:
Harris Teeter (DE & NC)
King Soopers (CO & WY)
Kroger (AL, LA, MI NC & VA)
Smith’s (AZ, ID, MT, NM, UT & WY)
Department Stores:
Fred Meyer (AK & ID)
Convenience Stores:
Loaf’N Jug (CO, MY, & WY)
Smith’s Express (UT)
Turkeu Hill (PA)